London: 2,012 vegetable gardens by 2012

A sustainable food initiative called Capital Growth has been encouraging Londoners to turn derelict land into vegetable gardens that will yield local, seasonal and organic food. Apart from offering healthy, affordable produce and absorbing some CO2 emissions from London’s transportation systems, these new thriving oases will make the city a greener, more pleasant place to live and will bring local communities together around a common goal.

London of the UK will be the focus of the world's attention
between July and September 2012, when the city will host the 30th
of the International Olympic Games. The city has placed
sustainability at the heart of its bid for the event and
The London 2012 Sustainability Plan has been produced to
illustrate how such a bid will be carried out on time. It is
structured according to five priorities: climate change , waste ,
biodiversity , inclusion and healthy living - all of which will be
addressed throughout the Olympic construction period, during the
Games, and in the future legacy the event will leave behind.

A huge determining factor of the London Olympics' sustainability
will be how the city supplies food. The environmental and social
effects of about 1.3 million construction worker meals and several
meals for each of its expected 14 million attendees are clearly
very significant. Also, a sustainable approach to food provision
could have an immense long-term impact on local communities and
could determine how food is produced in the future. It is for these
reasons that one of the most distinctive initiatives in the
category of 'healthy living' is a sustainable food strategy. Such a
strategy will promote the production of food that is fresh, local,
seasonal, organic, and derived more from plants than from
animals.

The government has established the Capital Growth project in
order to encourage Londoners to create vegetable gardens from
unused urban spaces, including schoolyards, nursing homes, disused
railway yards, canal banks, housing estates, and, especially, flat
rooftops on residential and commercial buildings. This is
accomplished partly by offering monetary incentives, such as £1000
for each flat roof space converted into a garden. In order to be
able to feed Olympians with locally grown produce, officials hope
they can get 2,012 new local gardens prior to the Olympics in
2012.

It is estimated that there is about 100 km2 of flat roof space
with the potential to grow food across the capital. The conversion
of this roof area into garden space would not only supply local
produce but it would also significantly reduce London's carbon
footprint and provide community projects that promote
self-sufficiency. The Capital Growth website
organizes and matches up citizens who are willing to garden with
plots of available land within the city and provides such citizens
with tools and compost to get their project started.

Linking up currently unloved patches of land with people who
want to discover the wonders of growing their own food....will make
London a greener, more pleasant place to live while providing
healthy and affordable food, Boris Johnson, Mayor of
London

As the most high-profile international event, the Olympic Games
present a huge opportunity to demonstrate how cities can become
more sustainable through simple incentives that enact large changes
in citizen lifestyle. The transformation of London from a consumer
to a producer will leave lasting impacts on its food security,
citizen health, community cohesiveness, and international image. As
part of
The Sustainability Plan, Capital Crowth will
aid people in reconnecting with the fruit and vegetables they eat
in addition to improving the city air quality, cutting traffic
congestion and carbon emissions associated with food
transportation, and making London an overall greener place to
live.

DAC& BOOKS/SHOP

Comments

Green city

Key Learning Points >

In conjunction with the 2012 Olympics, London will promote the consumption of locally grown food in order to improve the city’s sustainability and raise consumer awareness

The city’s new Capital Growth campaign will identify unused spaces with gardening potential across the capital and give London's communities both financial and practical support to help them grow their own produce

London’s transformation from a food consumer to a food producer will improve air quality, carbon footprint, traffic congestion, citizen health, community cohesiveness, and international image

Process >

September 2004Mayor Boris Johnson establishes the London Food Board to investigate and control food matters in the capital

July 2005
London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games is awarded

November 2007
The London 2012 Sustainability Plan is launched

November 2008The Capital Growth project is launched

27 July - 12 Aug 201260-day festival of sport and culture - the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Project Facts >

At a cost of £87,000, the London Development Agency funded the 1st phase of the Capital Growth project (from November 2008 until March 2009) with the goal of identifying and gardening the first 50 plots. In April 2009 this goal was well exceeded and support was offered to nearly 100 new community gardens.

Owners of flat roofs were offered £1000 for each roof space with the potential of cultivation

It is estimated that there is 100 km2 of flat roof space with the potential to be cultivated in London

There are three key aspects of sustainable food in the Olympic and Paralympic Games: provision of food during the Games, provision food for construction workers, and how London’s future food production is affected by the Games

Facts for Thought >

In 2000, it was estimated that Londoners consumed 6.9 million tons of food, of which 81% came from outside the UK

An estimated global audience of four billion people will watch more than 10,000 athletes participate in the Olympic Games. 8.6 million tickets will be available, with another 1.5 million for the Paralympic Games. 300,000 tourists are expected to travel to the Games from outside the UK

Related Facts >

Roof gardens help reduce flooding, improve insulation and take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere

A sustainable food strategy will reduce the fuel consumed in food transportation and a reconnect people with land they live on and the food they eat.

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